Blog Tour and Giveaway of Daisy to the Rescue

Welcome to my stop on the True Stories Blog Tour! I’m featuring Daisy to the Rescue by Jeff Campbell. Make sure you scroll all the way through the post to read my own animal rescue experience as well as enter the giveaway for a copy of the book. Happy reading!

About the Book:

Daisy to the Rescue: True Stories of Daring Dogs, Paramedic Parrots, and Other Animal Heroes by Jeff Campbell

Age Range: 12 and up

Genre: Nonfiction

Hardcover: 224 pages

Publisher: Zest Books; Original edition (October, 2014)

Language: English

ISBN-13: 978-1-936976-62-1

Source: From publisher for tour

My Rating: 5 of 5 stars!

Synopsis:

With their love and companionship, animals of all species help to make human lives better every day. But sometimes, to our utter amazement and everlasting gratitude, animals literally save our lives. This heartwarming book collects over 50 real-life stories in which the actions of animals have meant the difference between life and death.

Today, scientists vigorously debate questions regarding the sentience, intelligence, and emotions of animals. In particular, they want to know whether animals share with humans the highest emotions of empathy, compassion, and altruism. Daisy to the Rescue poses these questions for readers to consider, and examines these extreme life-saving situations for possible evidence. Gathered together, these stories make a compelling case for the presence of altruism in animals.

Daisy to the Rescue provides dramatic, thrilling, and moving stories that convey a hopeful message about our world. But these stories also provide startling evidence of the mental and emotional capacities of animals, those beings we share the world with.

About the Author:

An editor and writer for over twenty years, Jeff Campbell has specialized in books on animal intelligence and emotions. A former writer for Lonely Planet, Campbell coauthored guidebooks on Hawaii, Florida, the Southwest, and other US destinations. He lives in Northern New Jersey and also teaches creative writing to students in elementary school.

About the Illustrator:

Ramsey Beyer grew up on a farm in Michigan before escaping to city life. The award-winning author and illustrator of Little Fish: A Memoir of a Different Kind of Year, Beyer is also in much demand as an animal/pet portraitist, and lives in Philadelphia.

My Thoughts on Daisy to the Rescue:

This book has some of the most touching animal
rescues I’ve ever read. Some were heartwarming, like the pony that lost
a leg and became an inspiration to sick people of all ages. Some, like
the African lions that chased off a young girl’s kidnappers and stood
guard until the police arrived, defy explanation. One of the stories
that got to me the most was about a young veteran that almost took his own
life, but stopped himself when his sweet dog showed him unconditional love.

The stories in this book are beautiful, inspiring, and a must read for any animal lover. This is the kind of book I would have devoured as a young adult. I devoured it as an adult, so what does that tell you?

If you or your teen likes animals and want to read something that will warm your heart, pick this book up. It is like Chicken Soup for the Pet Owner’s Soul.

Content: Some intense situations and a few mild curse words.

Source: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

5 STARS

My Personal Animal Rescue Experience (with illustrations!)

If my parents knew how much danger reading put me in as a child, they would have piled my book collection in the backyard, doused it in gasoline, and lit a match.

When I was eight, I read White Fang, Call of the Wild, and Lassie. With each page I turned, I became more and more convinced that I had a special connection with dogs. I’d always loved animals, and dogs were SO friendly. After all, our family dog was a collie (just like Lassie!) and he and I were the best of friends. So that grouchy dog down the alley that barked and snapped as I took the shortcut to school? Well, he just hadn’t met me yet. Not properly anyway.

“You stay away from that dog,” my mom said when I told her my plan to befriend him. “Not every dog is like our Foxy here, and I don’t want you getting hurt, or killed.”

I barely contained my eye roll at my mother’s antics. She obviously didn’t understand. I had a connection with animals! They understood me and I understood them. It wasn’t MY fault my brother had his face bitten. If he’d had a connection with dogs the way I did, his face would be tooth mark free.

I read books on dogs and breeds until I knew everything there was to know about them. Armed with this information, I decided it was time to befriend the snarling dog in the alley.

I lingered by the unfenced yard on my way to and from school for several weeks. He strained against his chain and gnashed at me, just like Buck in Call of the Wild. But I knew he would come around eventually. After all, White Fang was a wolf, and he came around.

The dog was a doberman pinscher, a misunderstood breed. They appeared mean on the surface, but were quite loyal once they got to know you. And I’d been standing just out of reach of those snapping teeth for a few weeks now. We were practically on a first name basis.

Then one day, he wasn’t chained up.

The doberman spotted me and started running like he hadn’t eaten in a week and I was a roasted duck. My heart dropped through my stomach as I watched those gleaming fangs fly at me. My life was over. My mother (darn it all!) was right.

I stood paralyzed with fear as the doberman raced toward me. Then he leaped. A flash of orange streaked past me and barreled into the doberman. Foxy had intercepted him!

I screamed. Boy, did I scream. Foxy and the doberman tangled together in a snarl of orange and black. Their teeth flashed in the sunlight. Some small part of my eight year old brain shouted at me to run. But I couldn’t leave Foxy, and my feet refused to move.

Then there were shouts and hands coming from every direction. Blessed, beautiful man hands grabbed the doberman and pulled him away. Foxy immediately came to me and licked my shaking fingers.

“Whose dog is this?” the man’s voice asked.

I pointed numbly at the back of the house the doberman came from.

“Take your dog and go home,” the man said.

I grasped Foxy’s collar and stumbled away. We got home and collapsed on the back porch. I put my arms around Foxy and watched my tears make trails through his fur.

I never tried to befriend another doberman. I also stopped taking the short cut to school. But I didn’t stop reading.

We moved to the country shortly afterwards and I read The Black Stallion, Black Beauty, and King of the Wind. I realizedthe wild black horse in my neighbor’s pasture needed a rider…

Giveaway Time!

Win a copy of Daisy to the Rescue!

US only please

Ends Oct 29, 2014

Entrants must be 13 or older or have their parent/guardian enter for them. Winner must respond to my email within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen. Contest is void where prohibited. Good luck!